Page 32 of Sophie's Ruin
“I’ll be back,” I promised the darkness. I knew sooner rather than later I would return to this place where there was no end and no beginning. The thought didn’t terrify me anymore. On the contrary, excitement sparked in my chest…excitement and anticipation.
“Until next time,” I whispered, as I felt myself beginning to float up.
My heels separated from the floor first, then the balls of my feet, then my toes. Oily, tar-like substance dripped from them as I floated up, higher and higher, until I broke through the surface of my dream, taking some of the darkness with me.
I didn’t bolt upright in the bed like I’d done in the past few nights. My breathing was steady when I opened my eyes. The darkness didn’t terrify me anymore. I understood it better now, and it had felt wrong leaving it behind in my dream. It understood me, too. I’d felt…at home when I’d been surrounded by it. That couldn’t be right, I thought to myself as I scowled. My home was where Henry was. Nothing else could provide the same sense of security. Or could it?
Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I left the bed and got ready. Once I was dressed in black leggings and a simple white tunic, I tied my hair at the nape of my neck and put the Tear in my pocket. Ready to leave, I stepped closer to the bedroom door, but froze when I smelled Celeste on the other side. A frustrated sigh left me as I yanked open the door, glaring at the witch. She glared right back, her face set in determination.
“You are not going to sneak out this time,” she said coldly, her tone final.
“I wouldn’t need to sneak out if you didn’t feel the need to hold me back,” I bit out, my voice as cold as ice to match hers.
“I am not holding you back. I only implore you to take it slow. To approach the magic with the care and respect it deserves.”
“It’s my magic, so I get to decide how to handle it.”
“You have so much to learn.”
“Then teach me!” I raised my voice at the witch.
Celeste opened her mouth to reply, but clamped it shut as her gaze drew distant. I knew that look.
“What is it?” I asked, trying to glean the answer from her face. Her warm, beige skin paled as her lips pressed together.
“Nothing,” she finally said after a few seconds’ delay.
Lies.
“You’re lying. The world whispered something to you. What was it?”
“It was nothing. Nothing that is in your power to change at the moment.”
My heart sank as a cold feeling invaded my chest. Telling myself to breathe through the increasing sense of unease, I closed my eyes and tapped into the world around me, picturing a myriad of shimmering strings carrying pulses of information in short, rapid bursts. As I opened my senses, voices rushed in, flooding my head with sounds. My brows pinched in concentration as I began wading through the bits and pieces of information that the voices were whispering, talking over each other.
She’s here…the clans…right on the border,I heard the words rising and falling like a tide, growing louder at times before fading into the jarring chaos of noise.
Over the next few seconds, the whispering intensified, growing louder and louder, until it reached its peak, and the voices shouted all at once,He’s here!
My eyes flew open, my chest rising and falling rapidly.
“Sophie—” Celeste warned, but I was already gone, flying through the forest.
I skidded to a halt in the tree line facing the stone wall of the border with the Empire.
“Stop,” came Celeste’s voice from behind me a second before her hand landed on my shoulder, her fingers digging into my skin and bone.
I froze, my eyes trained on the border, where Camilla paced the top of the stone wall with feline grace. The twin chips of ice that were her eyes glided over the tree line, and my breath caught when she looked right at where Celeste and I stood.
“She can’t see or hear us,” the witch said as Camilla’s gaze slid past us. “And she can’t smell us. I have cast a masking spell, but I need to be touching you in order for it to project onto you.”
“Okay,” I said low, my gaze tracking Camilla’s every movement.
The Lady of the North stopped her pacing and planted her hands on the stone ledge.
“Are you out there, Sophie?” she called out, leaning slightly over the edge. “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” she taunted with a chilling smile, showing the gleaming tips of her fangs. “It’s been nights, Sophie,” she said, taking her hands off the ledge and inspecting her pointed nails. “I’d have expected you to come for him by now.” She paused, her gaze flicking back to the woods. “You know, we almost killed him.”
When a growl rumbled from deep within my throat, Celeste’s grip on me tightened.
